


It Wasn't Her Secret to Tell

by ashleighjane



Series: Keeping Score [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 02:04:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8871445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleighjane/pseuds/ashleighjane
Summary: Despite seeming so outwardly confident, Maggie Sawyer has her insecurities. Already paranoid that somehow she will lose Alex, she believes that she and Supergirl are definitely not just colleagues, and probably more than friends.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This can stand alone, but there is a reference to Tabula Rasa at the end :)

Maggie balanced the pizza box in one hand as she used the other to grab the keys to Alex’s apartment from her jacket pocket. It was so different from the last time she had turned up at Alex’s unannounced with pizza. It was also very much the same. Even though they had been dating for months, Maggie’s heartbeat was still elevated. She was still nervous. She was nervous that Alex would have by then realised that she could do better. She was, although she would never admit it and hated herself for thinking it, nervous that Alex might have decided she was wrong. Alex might have decided she wasn’t gay after all. ‘ _Get your shit together, Sawyer_ ,' Maggie muttered to herself as she pushed the key into the door and turned it slowly, still apprehensive of just letting herself in.

She pushed the door open. The words ‘Hey, Danvers’ got caught in her throat. She almost dropped the pizza, but managed to gain control of her senses, even though her already damaged heart had imploded. She had been nervous of so many things, but finding her girlfriend cuddled up with Supergirl, fast asleep, Netflix running, had not been one of them. She had always known that the two were closer than colleagues should have been, but she never thought that Alex would betray her. She knew she shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but they both looked so comfortable; so peaceful. She just knew there was something more than friendship between them. She cleared her throat.

Supergirl’s eye sprung open, and within seconds she was on her feet, looking flustered. “Detective Sawyer. Hi.” She gave Alex’s foot a gentle kick, rousing her from her slumber. “Should I go? I should go.”

Before Maggie could blink, Supergirl was gone, leaping from the balcony and zooming off into the night sky.

“Maggie.” Alex smiled as she sat herself up on the sofa, still half asleep. It was a smile that almost made Maggie’s heart melt. Almost made her believe that whatever was going on between Alex and Supergirl was purely platonic. Almost. “I didn’t think you were coming over tonight.”

“Yeah, I could see that.” The words were full of accusation

“What?” Shocked at what she was hearing, Alex laughed incredulously.

“I didn’t realise you and Supergirl were so close.” Maggie’s voice was venomous as she tried to hide how hurt she was.

“We’re not.” Alex paused. “I mean, we are. But not how you’re thinking. We’re just friends.”

“Yeah.” Maggie gave a bitter laugh. “I’ve heard that one before.”

Alex sighed. “For God’s sake, Maggie, I’m allowed to have friends.”

“You don’t strike me as someone who has many friends.” Maggie had observed how awkward Alex and Supergirl were around each other, when they worked together. Almost as if they were trying too hard to be professional. If, Maggie wondered, they were just friends then why would they try to hide it. Maggie walked into the kitchen, and threw the pizza down on the side. “I’m suddenly not feeling hungry.”

Maggie walked quickly to the door, needing to get out. She needed to breath. She needed to think. She needed to not allow Alex to see her cry. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes, threatening to spill. Alex followed her, grabbed her hand. “Please don’t just go. We need to talk about this.”

“We really don’t.” She snatched her hand away. “It’s fine. I get it. You had a thing for Supergirl. It makes sense. She’s strong, like you. Tough, like you. You didn’t know she liked girls, so I was second best.” Maggie knew her voice wobbled, even though she tried so hard to stay strong. She walked out, not hearing Alex’s words. At first she just walked, but as she got further away she started to run, the tears that had been threatening finally escaping.

* * *

 

The next day, Maggie received a text from a number she didn’t recognise. It was from Kara. ‘Hi Maggie. It’s Kara Danvers. Alex gave me your number, hope that’s okay. Could you meet me outside the CatCo building, please?’

Maggie furrowed her brow as she read the message, not knowing what Kara could possibly want. She had only met her a couple of times, and even then Kara had left promptly, usually flustered. She got the impression that Kara didn’t like her much. Perhaps she was afraid that she was going to hurt Alex. Well, no one had been looking out for Maggie. No one had been making sure she didn’t get hurt. Maggie thought about ignoring the text, but curiosity got the better of her. ‘Hope you weren’t planning on finally getting to know your sister’s girl friend, cos that bombed.’

Kara’s reply was almost immediate. ‘I know. I just wanted to explain everything.’

Maggie had no idea what Kara could possibly explain, but replied anyway. ‘You’re lucky I have nothing better to do today. See you in an hour.’

* * *

  
An hour later, Maggie sat in her car, sipping a coffee. She was parked across the street from the CatCo building, trying to make her mind up whether she wished to hear what Kara had to say or not. She couldn’t see Kara outside of the building anyway.

Maggie was about to drive away, when she heard a tap on the passenger window. She turned her head, and frowned when she saw the red emblem. Maggie gunned the engine, in no mood to speak to Supergirl. The car didn’t move. Supergirl stood in front it, her hands pressed firmly on the bonnet. Maggie sighed and rolled down her window. “What do you want? I’m supposed to be meeting someone.”

“I know.” Supergirl gave a slightly sheepish smile. “Maggie, Alex likes you. I mean, really likes you. And I know you care about her. I’m not going to spoil that. Could you unlock the doors? Please?”

Supergirl had never called Maggie by her first name before. Always Detective, or Detective Sawyer. In fact, Maggie felt that Supergirl had always been somewhat hostile towards her. Intrigued by her change in demeanour, Maggie opened the passenger door.

Supergirl slipped inside and closed the door. “Thank you. I know this isn’t easy. I overheard, last night. It really isn’t what you think.”

“Then what the hell is it? Because from where I was standing, it sure as hell didn’t look good. And I saw the heart eyes you kept making at Alex when you were working for the DEO. I’m not blind.”

Supergirl laughed. “Heart eyes? I hardly think that …” Supergirl cleared her throat, sobering. “I know you don’t like me. I haven’t given you any reason to.” Supergirl narrowed her eyes slightly. “But, how do you feel about Kara Danvers?”

Maggie tilted her head to one side, her forehead crinkled slightly as she wondered what Kara had to do with anything. She shrugged, deciding to just play along. “She’s okay I guess. I don’t really know her. I get the impression she doesn’t really like me.”

Supergirl shook her head. “No, no. Kara thinks you’re great.” Supergirl said, a little to enthusiastically. “It was touch and go for a while but she just … I guess she was worried if she spent too much time around you that you’d figure out the truth.”

“What truth? That she has a huge crush on me?” Maggie smirked.

Supergirl laughed again, blushing a little. “Definitely not.”

“Then what?”

“Well, I suppose you were always going to figure it out eventually, but I am Kara.”

Maggie was silent for a minute or two, staring at Supergirl’s face. “Oh shit.” She said, noticing the similarities. “Oh, this is embarrassing.”

“Alex will understand. She might be angry that you didn’t trust her, but I promise she will understand. Don’t tell her I told you, but underneath all the snark she’s a big softy.”

“Yeah, I know.” Maggie smiled, thinking about Alex, the amazing woman she had fallen for so quickly. “How long do you think I should give her to calm down?”

“None,” Kara said, not missing a beat. “I spoke to her this morning, and this is killing her. She wanted to explain everything to you last night, but it wasn’t her secret to tell.”

Maggie shook her head. “I should have just believed her in the first place.”

“You knew she wasn’t telling the whole truth. You’re too smart to fall for anyone's lies. Why do you think I’ve been such a mess around you?”

“Honestly, I thought you were trying to hide the fact that you and Alex were fuckbuddies. God, how could I be so stupid?”

Kara frowned “Why would you think that …” She shook her head. “Nevermind. Stop panicking, and go and talk to Alex. Before she finds the bottle of scotch that I had to confiscate and hide.”

Maggie glanced at Kara grinned, then looked away, blushing.

“What?”

“Would it be really weird if I asked you to fly me there? I mean, traffic is hell at this time of day. And honestly, I just always wondered what it’d be like to fly.

Kara’s eyes widened.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s fine. I just don’t think anyone’s actually wanted me to fly them anywhere before. Most people are terrified I’d drop them or something.”

Maggie shrugged. “It wouldn’t be any fun if it was safe.”

“You’re insane, aren’t you?”

“It’s been said before.”

* * *

 

This time Maggie had nothing in her hands as she knocked her knuckles against Alex’s door. The door swung open almost immediately.

“You have a key.”

“I do, but I wasn’t sure that you would want me to use it.”

Alex shrugged. “If I didn’t want you to use it, I would have changed the locks.”

“So, you’re not mad at me?”

“Oh, I’m mad. But I’m trying really hard not to be, because I understand.”

“Understand what?”

“That you’re going soft on me.” Alex raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well. You make it hard not to.”

Alex turned away from Maggie walking into the kitchen. “I’m cooking dinner. Do you want some?”

“Not likely. Last time I ate your cooking I ended up with food poisoning.”

“That was not my fault. I told you the chicken was off, but you insisted it was fine.”

“It was fine. You just can’t cook. Anyway, I didn’t come here to bash your cooking skills.”

“Really? You could have fooled me.”

“Kara told me everything. So,” Maggie sighed, hating that she was having to grovel, but knowing that she had to because Alex was worth it. “I came to say I’m sorry for being an asshole last night.”

Alex’s mouth dropped open a little. “Kara told you?” Alex held up her hands in a defensive manner. “I swear to God, I didn’t ask her to do that.”

“I know that. And so what if you had? I needed to know, and it wasn’t your secret to tell. By the way,” Maggie grinned. “Your sister is freaking awesome. She actually flew me here. It was amazing.”

“And terrifying.”

“Not as terrifying as walking back through your door. I could’ve screwed everything up. It’s just,” Maggie looked up at Alex, smiling, but clearly embarrassed to let her feelings be known. “I like you. A lot. I like you so much that I’m terrified I’ll lose you. And when I walked through that door and saw you with Supergirl, I just imagined the worst.”

“Well, Detective Sawyer,” Alex ran her fingers through her own hair, and laughed. “I like you a lot too. And you’re not gonna lose me. Not to anyone.”

“I’ve never acted this crazy before. My exes, they were all crazy. I was always the sane one.” Maggie noticed Alex narrow her eyes suspiciously and added “when it came to relationships anyway. But with you … I don’t find many people I care about, but I care about you. You make me crazy.”

Maggie pulled a marker out of her pocket, marched up to Alex’s fridge and drew a line straight down the middle.

“Hey, don’t draw on my fridge.”

“Relax, Danvers. It’s a drywipe.” On one side of the fridge Maggie wrote ‘Danvers’ and on the other she wrote ‘Sawyer’. She drew a single line under her name.

“Maggie, what the hell are you doing?”

“Keeping score. I fucked up.”

“Give that here.” Alex snatched the pen from Maggie’s hand, and made a mark under her own name. “We both screwed up. I should have trusted you enough to tell you Supergirl’s identity.”

Maggie shook her head. “It wasn’t your secret to tell.”

“Kara wanted to tell you. But I told her no. I’ve worked so, so hard to protect Kara. I joined the DEO for her. To learn how to protect her better. I wasn’t ready to give that up. So many people know now. I guess I missed sharing a secret with her. I kidded myself that I kept it from you to protect her, but I was just being selfish. I know she won’t be at any harm from you.”

“Of course not. For a while I wanted to run Supergirl over with a bus, but I think the bus would come off worse”

“Hey,” Alex said softly, none of the usual teasing in her voice that had become like second nature to the pair. “It’s been a while, but what you said, about me coming out for you? It’s true. I came out because of the feelings, feelings I didn’t think I would ever have, that I felt for you. I’m not some sex crazy teenager. I’m falling for you, no one else.” Alex grinned, the teasing returning. “And if that ever changes, I’ll make sure you’re the first to know.”

“Gee, thanks. That’s so thoughtful of you.” Maggie’s words were playfully sarcastic, but what Alex had said had been just what she needed to hear. For once she didn’t feel fearful of the fact that she was falling, or maybe even already had fallen, in love.


End file.
